Opuntia
humifusa, prickly pear cactus or
devil's tongue is a low growing, spreading succulent cactus with enlarged
fleshy, spiny, green pads and lemon yellow flowers. The showy yellow
flowers are 3 to 4 inches across and bloom in May and June. Prickly
Pear Cactus is found growing
wild in colonies on glades of
limestone, sandstone, and igneous rock and sandy fields and pastures throughout
the Ozarks and most of the Midwest and eastern USA. Opuntia
humifusa Prickly Pear Cactus was formerly known as Opuntia compressa.
The common name Prickly Pear refers to the red, bristly, pearlike fruit.
Native Americans ate the fruit, pads, buds, and flowers raw, cooked, or dried. Prickly
Pear Cactus plants are grown in the wild flower rock garden as a focal point or
can be grown inside as a potted plant.

Prickly pear cactus plants, when growing wild, often lay flat or near the
ground.Under optimal garden conditions
prickly pear will grow one to two feet tall and produce larger pads. They thrive in rock gardens or containers and can be effective in
a mixed planting, borders and natural areas. Hardy prickly pear is low-growing
and its brilliant yellow flowers and meandering pads are a welcome addition to
the sunny flower garden.

Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa) is a hardy cactus native to the United States
east of the Rockies and grows wild in dry, sandy soils in open pine woods,
prairies, pastures, and dry rocky glades. Native Opuntia humifusa prickly pear
cactus is a prostrate or spreading cactus with oblong, flattened pads 2 to 8
inches (5.1-15.2 cm) long with sharp spines. (Some individuals don't have
spines.)Prickly pear spines are
easy enough to avoid, but watch out for the tiny hairlike bristles (glochids)
that occur in little tufts over the pad. They are barbed and treacherous!Prickly Pear Cactus has showy bright yellow 3 to 4 inch wide flowers that
appear in mid summer.The edible
reddish green fruits are called tunas and are 2-3 in long. The pulp is ruby red
and tastes a little like watermelon.
There are over 200 species of prickly pear cactuses in southwestern North
America, Mexico, Central America and South America.

Prickly pear prefers full sun but will grow in light shade and is easy to grow,
rooting readily from pads stuck in the ground, or even just lying on the
surface.It is drought tolerant but
doesn't like soggy conditions.

There is a large commercial production of Prickly Pear fruits (tunas) in
other countries where the the sweet juicy fruits are very popular. World wide
the production of prickly pear tunas is larger than that of strawberries,
avocados, or apricots. The pads (nopales)
are a popular cooked vegetable in Mexico and Central America with a taste some
think is like green beans.

The map below
shows areas where Opuntia
humifusa Prickly Pear Cactus
plants grow wild but they can be planted and will grow over
most of Midwest and Eastern US.
USDA plant hardiness zones 3 to 9.